Driving assist apparatus and method for vehicle

Abstract

A driving assist apparatus and method for a vehicle capable of guiding the vehicle at appropriate vehicle speed in accordance with the path is provided. The alarm vehicle speed for informing a driver of overspeed during driving assist is set lower for a changing steer region than for a fixed steer region. The lower alarm vehicle speed is set before the changing steer region is entered. Therefore, in the changing steer region, the vehicle speed can be sufficiently reduced, so that a set amount of steering can be accomplished. In the fixed steer region, the vehicle speed can be increased so as to reduce the time of travel.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE[0001]The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-183095 filed on Jun. 26, 2003, including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The invention relates to vehicular driving assist apparatus and method for determining a locus of run to a target position and assisting the driving of a vehicle so that the vehicle follows the locus of run.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]A related-art technology for guiding a vehicle to a target position through the use of the automatic steering, the steering command, etc., is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-278825. In this related technology, a reference amount of operation of a brake pedal is pre-set in order to adjust the vehicle speed in accordance with the response speed of a steering actuator during the automatic steering. A deviati...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]According to the driving assist apparatus and method, different alarm vehicle speeds are set for the fixed steer region and the changing steer region. In the changing steer region where a driving device of the automatic steering device drives a steering system, the alarm vehicle speed is set relatively low. Therefore, the load on the driving device is reduced, and high-accuracy steering is realized. Furthermore, in the fixed steer region where the driving device does not drive the steering system, the alarm vehicle speed is set relatively high so as to allow movement at a higher speed than in the changing steer region. Therefore, the time of travel to the target position can be reduced. Due to the changing of the alarm vehicle speed in accordance with the path, controllability improves.

Problems solved by technology

However, in an actual control, the vehicle speed in the case where the steering angle is changed by driving the steering actuator and the vehicle speed in the case where the steering angle is maintained do not need to be the same If the vehicle speed is uniformly set, there is a possibility that the driving to a target position may consume an inconveniently long time or that sufficient vehicle speed cannot be obtained despite a driver's desire for increased speed and thus controllability may become low.

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